The British-Kurdish artist, whose music is deeply influenced by her Kurdish-Alevi heritage, will perform at the Nine Elms venue on Saturday 17 October. Bayır is known for combining the rich musical traditions of Anatolia with the diverse sounds of her adopted home city, London, creating music that moves effortlessly between folk, world music and contemporary songwriting.
Born in southern Türkiye, close to the Syrian border, Bayır moved to London with her family as a teenager and later trained in operatic singing. She ultimately turned away from classical music to explore the songs and sounds of Anatolia, bringing her powerful trained voice to material sung in multiple languages. Her acclaimed debut album, Neva | Harmony, released in 2014, included songs in Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian and Greek and earned her a nomination for Best Newcomer at the 2015 Songlines Music Awards.
Her follow-up, Rüya | Dream (2019), placed greater emphasis on Bayır’s own compositions, while her latest album, Tu Gulî (2024), continued her exploration of themes including exile, memory, womanhood and belonging. The record reached number three on the World Music Charts Europe and was named among the chart’s Top 10 Albums of 2024.
For her World Heart Beat concert, Bayır will be joined by Cenk Sanlioglu on guitar and Ofer Peled-Kaval on clarinet, in what organisers describe as a vocally centred and emotionally charged performance that reshapes rather than simply recreates Anatolian folk traditions.
Event details
Title: Olcay Bayir
Date: Saturday 17 October 2026
Time: Doors 6.30pm; performance 7.30pm
Venue: World Heart Beat Embassy Gardens, 3 Ponton Road, Nine Elms, London SW11 7BD
Tickets: £16–£20
More information / tickets: available from the World Heart Beat website.
